The Chat Thread

[PaulR]

Did you buy it or rent?  A scratch on a dvd is usually not much to worry about it, on a bd means it won't play.  If it's not that make sure that the firmware on your bd player is up to date, fox keeps changing the encryption.

I bought it, and no scratches.  I updated the firmware, and still a problem.  So I e-mailed Arkiv to see what to do. 

[DavidW]

I bought it, and no scratches.  I updated the firmware, and still a problem.  So I e-mailed Arkiv to see what to do.

This is a long shot but did you also check the region and ntsc/pal?

[PaulR]

This is a long shot but did you also check the region and ntsc/pal?

It says it's designed for worldwide playback.

Is it possible that my TV is to blame?  it says 1080i high def, and my TV is 720p.  I am not the most technical person in the world, so I am not sure.  I really hope not.

[DavidW]

It says it's designed for worldwide playback.

Ah ha!  That can be misleading.  Most blu-ray players are region locked and will also not play region free discs.  It is very hard to find blu-ray players that will (but much easier to find dvd players that will).  If you can, you should return the disc.  You will most likely not be able to get your player to play it.

Is it possible that my TV is to blame?  it says 1080i high def, and my TV is 720p.  I am not the most technical person in the world, so I am not sure.  I really hope not.

As long as your tv is capable of the high def standards and has an hdmi port that you're using that won't be the problem.

[PaulR]

Ah ha!  That can be misleading.  Most blu-ray players are region locked and will also not play region free discs.  It is very hard to find blu-ray players that will (but much easier to find dvd players that will).  If you can, you should return the disc.  You will most likely not be able to get your player to play it.

So even though it actually got to the opening menu, I am basically screwed?

[Renfield]

God [and/or universal power of your choice, and/or none: expression vacant] forbid Talk Like A Renfield day ever comes.

Meaningless drivel [edit: by which one means less [edit 2: and no more, surely [edit 3: where 'surely' reflects relative certainty]]]. Bad joke. Self-infatuation. Mahler. Condescending mien showing through every word. Mahler. I am smarter than you. Karajan.


Sound about right?



(It is true that only one as genuinely self-centred as myself would even attempt this joke; but I hope at least one person cracked a smile, one person took it to be an insult even if it isn't, one person thought it was stupid, and one person didn't even read it at all.

That's certainly my usual expectation for any given post I write, even when it doesn't unintentionally spark a flame war.)




paulbrass: Yep. However, I think (some?) Blu-ray players can switch region, albeit a limited number of times.

So if you really wanted to watch The Passenger on Blu-ray, you could do that, and switch back to your region afterwards.

(Though the feature is, as far as I'm aware and to the extent it even applies widely, intended for when you move country.)

[Brian]

God [and/or universal power of your choice, and/or none: expression vacant] forbid Talk Like A Renfield day ever comes.

Honestly I thought it would just be Karajan Karajan Karajan Karajan. 

By the way, "Brontosaurus C. McGinley" is retired.

[PaulR]

paulbrass: Yep. However, I think (some?) Blu-ray players can switch region, albeit a limited number of times.

So if you really wanted to watch The Passenger on Blu-ray, you could do that, and switch back to your region afterwards.

(Though the feature is, as far as I'm aware and to the extent it even applies widely, intended for when you move country.)

on second thoughts, there's a big A on the back of the box, which is the same region as the back of my Blue Ray player.  So it should be able to play it.

I still wonder how it even gets to the main menu if it's a wrong region issue.  But then again, I never dealt with wrong region issues on DVDs.

[DavidW]

So even though it actually got to the opening menu, I am basically screwed?

I think that you should wait on the reply from Arkiv but also contact customer support for your blu-ray player.  They'll either confirm what I think or find a solution.  The only thing you lose is time.

To my knowledge playing region free bds is hit or miss.  They all follow the same standard of atsc, but play tricks to try to make them unplayable outside the region they were made.  One which did not happen to you is making the menu in pal or ntsc instead of atsc.  But I'm sure there are other tricks, and people frequently complain about buying region-free discs and have trouble playing them (to be fair as many people suffer no problems).

[DavidW]

on second thoughts, there's a big A on the back of the box, which is the same region as the back of my Blue Ray player.  So it should be able to play it.

I still wonder how it even gets to the main menu if it's a wrong region issue.  But then again, I never dealt with wrong region issues on DVDs.

Oh nice!  It must be the player then.  I still say contact customer support for your player.  Just tell them all of the facts without interpretation and let them figure it out.

[PaulR]

Oh nice!  It must be the player then.  I still say contact customer support for your player.  Just tell them all of the facts without interpretation and let them figure it out.

I'll see what happens with Arkiv, maybe they've handled these questions in the past.

I wish I was more technically sound.  heh

[Renfield]

Honestly I thought it would just be Karajan Karajan Karajan Karajan. 

By the way, "Brontosaurus C. McGinley" is retired.

Hey, Karajan ain't in my avatar! You're going to hurt poor Gustav's feelings.



But you know, that one time Karajan conducted The Symphony of Psalms using a Llama for the percussion and-....

[DavidW]

I wish I was more technically sound.  heh

I don't think it would help, it was built to stick a disc in and push play.  When that fails not much else you can do.  Blu-rays can be frustrating with how frequently they won't play.  I really tire of it.  More and more I consider ditching my blu-ray player.  Already I no longer pay the bd access fee on netflix.

[PaulR]

I don't think it would help, it was built to stick a disc in and push play.  When that fails not much else you can do.  Blu-rays can be frustrating with how frequently they won't play.  I really tire of it.  More and more I consider ditching my blu-ray player.  Already I no longer pay the bd access fee on netflix.

But I would know more of these things prior to asking on here....and more knowledge never hurts 

[DavidW]

But I would know more of these things prior to asking on here....and more knowledge never hurts 

Yeah you would feel stupid if you had a dvd player and tried to make it play!  

[PaulR]

Yeah you would feel stupid if you had a dvd player and tried to make it play!

I would never do that....hopefully.....

I'll be returning the Blue Ray to get another one.

Hope that solves the problem.

[ibanezmonster]

I am ruthlessly efficient.

My efficiency has no ruth! 

Brontosaurus C. McGinley? I must have missed that today, but it does sound like a name Dave would use! 

God [and/or universal power of your choice, and/or none: expression vacant] forbid Talk Like A Renfield day ever comes.

Meaningless drivel [edit: by which one means less [edit 2: and no more, surely [edit 3: where 'surely' reflects relative certainty]]]. Bad joke. Self-infatuation. Mahler. Condescending mien showing through every word. Mahler. I am smarter than you. Karajan.


Sound about right?



(It is true that only one as genuinely self-centred as myself would even attempt this joke; but I hope at least one person cracked a smile, one person took it to be an insult even if it isn't, one person thought it was stupid, and one person didn't even read it at all.

That's certainly my usual expectation for any given post I write, even when it doesn't unintentionally spark a flame war.)

I considered either a day for you or Cato, but I'm not sure, because it would be very difficult. Somehow, even though you are only my age and English is your second language, you have a larger vocabulary nearly anyone I've known (how that happens, I have no idea). 

Heck, let's do it anyways... talk like a Renfield day tomorrow... I think it could be accomplished somehow using a thesaurus for each word and random insertions points for the word "Mahler."

[Renfield]

I considered either a day for you or Cato, but I'm not sure, because it would be very difficult. Somehow, even though you are only my age and English is your second language, you have a larger vocabulary nearly anyone I've known (how that happens, I have no idea). 

Heck, let's do it anyways... talk like a Renfield day tomorrow... I think it could be accomplished somehow using a thesaurus for each word and random insertions points for the word "Mahler."

It happens because it's not my second language! That's the short answer.




The long answer is that I was brought up in a two-language household, which [psycholinguist mode engaged] gave my brain the necessary phonetic and morphological framework for two languages, even if I used only one for the first seven years of my life (but heard both, especially at ages 1-4). Then I was exposed to an all-English environment at the age of 8, and within a couple of years, despite my exposure to spoken English declining drastically (except for games!), English had overtaken my other language at all levels.

I speak English with an English accent (though you wouldn't be able to place it beyond quasi-London), I think in English, think through English: that is, the conceptual form of my thoughts is often such that I have trouble rendering them in Greek without 'translation' - something that frustrated me for all my time in Greece, as it made it hard to talk to people, and gave me shitty essay grades in Greek.

If were to make an informed guess, I'd assume both the fact that a) English fits better with my very systematic way of thinking - by virtue of its being a more analytical language than Greek, i.e. (roughly) syntax-centred, vs. morphology-centred, as I now know through linguistics - as well as the fact that b) English represented a culture that I was in all respects more comfortable in, compared to Greek, both played a role in my ending up as I have. Not that I'd have it any other way! I am very proud of my language, and like any other inherently powerful implement, I keep it as sharp as possible. I prefer having 'the right word for the job', vs. 'sort of'.

(So therein may lie your explanation about the vocabulary. It could well be like some of your Southern folk and their gun fetish. )



How's that for background material? Now you can be that much more Renfield.

But remember, you need to edit every post at least five times before you post it, and ten times after.

Edit: Including the tangential-aside-edit, such as this one, to add that my girlfriend says I sleep with a dictionary under my pillow.

[Brian]

Edit: Including the tangential-aside-edit, such as this one, to add that my girlfriend says I sleep with a dictionary under my pillow.

I'm no doctor, but that might be the cause of your neck issues right there.

[Renfield]

I'm no doctor, but that might be the cause of your neck issues right there.

Hahaha!

But why is the pain gone now? Or is it for now? If I throw away the dictionary, I'll have to start writing in symbols.